


Skinny Love

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cancer, Character Death, Don't Read This, F/M, Grief/Mourning, I'm Sorry, M/M, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 11:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/939227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is diagnosed with cancer, and Louis takes it badly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skinny Love

The boys all showed up at Harry's house, just like he'd asked them to. None of them had any clue why they were there, just that their best friend had something important to tell them. Something he hadn't told anyone--ANYONE--else yet.  
Was it that he was getting married to his girlfriend, Marilyn? Did he break up with her? Was he coming out of the closet to them?  
Was he leaving the band?  
He sat them all down in the living room and they talked for a little while, just chatting. Harry didn't say much.  
Eventually, he spoke up. "Guys, so I know I was really vague about why I invited you here, and I'm really happy you actually came."  
"Of course we came," Zayn said. "You're one of our best friends."  
"Thank you Zayn," Harry whispered. "This is really awful." For a moment, everyone was silent. Then Harry burst into tears. "I feel so horrible putting this on you guys," he sobbed, while the boys huddled around him, patting his back and hugging him.  
"It's alright, it's fine Haz," Liam assured him. "We're here for you."  
"Tell us, it'll make it easier," Niall put in.  
"No, it won't. But I have to." The boys pulled back and looked at him.  
"You... You aren't leaving, are you?"  
"No! No... I... I hope not." He took a deep breath and wiped his face off, trying to pull himself together. "This is so hard," he whispered brokenly.  
"What? What is?" Louis said urgently. "Harry, you're freaking me out!"  
"I-I have... Cancer."  
Nobody made a sound until Louis pounded a fist on the table.  
"No you don't!"  
"Yeah, Lou. I do."  
"No you DON'T!" He stood up quickly, shocking everyone. "They can cure it! They can cure it, right Harry?" Louis looked at Harry in expectation. "RIGHT?"  
"I... They don't know."  
"What do you mean, THEY DON'T KNOW?!" Louis screamed, now crying as well. "HOW CAN THEY NOT KNOW? THEY HAVE TO!"  
"Lou, calm--" Liam started.  
"NO! YOU DON'T GET IT! YOU. ARE. NOT. DYING." Harry held his hands, palms up, in front of him.  
"Louis, they don't know enough yet. They said they can probably cure it--"  
"Probably isn't enough," Louis whispered brokenly. "I-I need..." He covered his eyes and waved his hand, walking out of the room.  
"What's the outlook?" Zayn whispered, holding back tears.  
"They don't know. I'm going back to the doctor's tomorrow for more tests."  
"Will you tell us?" Niall asked. "Will you call us and tell us what they say?"  
"Yes. Of course."

 

••••

Harry opened up his email and started to compose an email to his bandmates.  
To: Zayn, Liam, Niall, and Louis  
Subject: Doctors results  
Hey guys, I got the results today. They said they can probably cure it. First, they're trying medication, and then chemotherapy if that doesn't work. Surgery is a last resort which they said won't be nesscesary. But I might need to skip out of a lot of shows. Everything will be back to normal when I'm cured, don't worry.  
-Harry

He'd lied: the diagnosis wasn't as good as he'd made it out to be. There was a good chance of it being cured, but there was also a good chance of Harry losing the battle.

••••

"Everyone, I have some bad news." Harry announced to the giant, screaming crowd. The boys all looked somberly at the ground, clenching their microphones tightly. "I'm gonna be gone for a bunch of shows on the upcoming tour." The auditorium echoed with the cries and 'no's and 'boo's. "I know, I'm sorry. But recently, I went to the doctor's, and they found something really, really bad." Suddenly, the entire room went silent. You could've heard a pin drop as everyone sensed what was coming up. "I was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago." The collective scream of 'NO!' hurt everyone's ears, and more than half of the audience immeadiately burst into tears.  
Within hours, it was the top news story in the world.

••••

Harry looked at his hair, lying lank in his hands. The medication hadn't worked, and now it was on to chemotherapy. Which meant that all the hair had to come off.

••••

When chemotherapy only slowed the tumor down, they decided to operate. Harry went to the hospital alone, and his mother picked him up afterward.

••••

Harry was too weak to leave the hospital, so the boys all came to visit him there.  
"Thank you for coming to see me, guys," Harry said quietly. He couldn't get out of the hospital bed, so they crowded around the sides.  
"It's no problem," Liam said.  
"I-I wish..." A lone, sparkling tear trailed down his cheek.  
"Don't say that," Zayn said, voice breaking. Tears started to spill down his cheeks as well. "Don't finish that sentence."  
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Niall dropped out of Harry's line of vision as he curled up in a ball on the floor, silently sobbing.  
"You're going to die, aren't you?" Louis said flatly.  
"Yeah, Lou. I'm going to die."  
"You promised. You promised me you wouldn't," he whispered.  
"I know, I'm sorry. I want your guys to promise that the band won't break up because of me." He tried to lift his hand to wipe his face, but he couldn't.

••••

It was the top news story in the world.

Harry Styles Dead  
One Direction popstar loses two year cancer battle.  
Harry Styles, one of the five singers in world famous boyband One Direction, died at 2:57am this morning in the hospital where he was being treated for cancer. Styles had been diagnosed with cancer twenty-one months ago, and fought for longer than most could have.  
"Mr. Styles's battle with the illness lasted much longer that any of us expected," Dr. Joanne Robinson tells us. "Once we realized that chemotherapy wasn't working, we gave him about six months to live. He fought for eleven months."  
Styles's condition had been deteriorating rapidly for the past month, Dr. Robinson explains. He died peacefully in his sleep.  
Styles's family, his longtime girlfriend Marilyn Carrey, and fellow bandmembers Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik all declined to comment on Styles's death.  
The rest of One Direction's current tour has been cancelled, possibly to be rescheduled.

Zayn was the first one to find out. He picked up the call from Harry's mom, expecting the usual report on Harry's condition.  
"Hey, Mrs. Styles. How is..." He trailed off when he heard that she was crying. "What's happened?"  
"Harry... He..."  
"No. Nonono don't say it," Zayn said, eyes widening and hands clenching on the phone.  
"Zayn, I'm sorry."  
"I-I have to go." He hit the end call button before she replied. Sitting stiffly on the hotel bed, he stared out the window.  
Harry was gone. Why hadn't he felt anything? When someone you love dies, aren't you supposed to FEEL them die? But he hadn't felt anything. And now one of his best friends was dead.  
A knock sounded on his door and Liam and Niall slipped in.  
"Zayn--Zayn? What's wrong?" Liam said, eyebrows creasing in concern.  
"He... He's gone."  
"Who's gone?" Niall said sharply.  
"Harry. Harry's gone." He crumpled to the floor and dissolved into sobs. Niall and Liam stared at him blankly for a moment.  
"No. No he isn't." Liam said, trying to convince himself. "No he's not. ZAYN, TELL ME HE'S NOT!" He yelled, raising his voice.  
"H-his mom c-called and s-s-said..."  
"I..." Liam whipped around and walked quickly out of the room.  
"Zayn?" Niall asked after a moment. "Are you sure?"  
"Yes. Harry l-lost." A dizzy spell hit Niall and he sat on the carpeted floor. He stared blankly at the wall.  
The door banged open, and Louis stormed in, followed by Liam trying to calm him down.  
"IS THIS TRUE, ZAYN?" He screamed, hands in fists by his sides. "IS IT TRUE?"  
"It's true," Niall said monotonously.  
"NO IT ISNT! YOUR ALL LYING TO ME! HE ISNT DEAD!" Everyone cringed as he yelled, as if the words burned them. When nobody answered him, he stormed out, slamming the door on the way out.  
He locked his door and threw himself onto the bed, keening in misery. He couldn't believe it.  
"YOU PROMOSED ME HARRY!" he bellowed into his pillow. "YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD SURVIVE! YOU LIED!" He screamed for hours, punching the pillows, kicking the bed frame, biting the sheets. He didn't come out for a week and a half. All the shows had been canceled. He'd simply refused to open the door. The one thing he could do anymore was play his guitar and sing.   
He knew Zayn, Liam, and Niall had done one interview since Harry died. He didn't go. He couldn't find motivation to do anything, and even when he finally left his room, everything had lost it's luster and shine.

••••

The funeral was small, closed coffin. There were no tears from Louis at the service. After they'd buried him, he'd went with a dandelion from the edge of the graveyard and sat in front of the grave, now neatly covered in sod.  
"Hey, Harry," he whispered, rolling the fluffy plant between his fingers. "I miss you. I wish we could've done so much more. You didn't deserve to die. I'm planting wishing plants on top of you. Because you helped my dreams come true. And I'm sorry yours were cut short. I'm gonna miss you. You were my best friend." He blew the seeds of the dandelion onto Harry's grave. "Bye, Haz." Louis turned around and went back to his home. It went unspoken that One Direction was over. The boys stayed as close as brothers, but it wasn't the same. Not without Harry.

**Author's Note:**

> IM SO SORRY


End file.
